Individuals are significantly less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present, a grim reality of human nature known as the bystander effect.

A closer look

Individuals are significantly less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present, a grim reality of human nature known as the bystander effect. Diffusion of responsibility dictates that as the number of witnesses increases, each person's individual sense of obligation proportionally decreases to near zero. Everyone assumes someone else will step up to call an ambulance, meaning a crowd of fifty people will collectively stand around staring blankly like a flock of incredibly confused sheep while a crisis unfolds. If you ever find yourself having a medical emergency in a crowded public space, do not scream for general help; you have to point directly at one specific person and make it their exclusive problem, or they will absolutely let you perish out of sheer social awkwardness